NCB busts drug racket operating from ice-cream parlour in Goa village

Panaji, June 29 The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has busted a drug racket in the beach village of Anjuna in North Goa in which an ice-cream parlour was used as a front to sell ecstasy tablets, a statement issued by the drug-enforcement agency said on Tuesday.

The ice-cream parlour bust-up was one of the two raids conducted by the NCB, which has led to the arrest of three persons, including two Nigerian nationals, and seizure of commercial quantities of ecstasy and LSD.

"Roque Jose Fernandez is a notorious drug trafficker in North Goa. He was earlier booked in two drug cases and is presently out on bail. He is the owner of a hotel in Anjuna. Fernandez operated the drug racket of ecstasy from his ice-cream parlour-cum-grocery store," NCB zonal director for Mumbai and Goa, Sameer Wankhede, said in a statement.

"The drug orders were booked from his ice-cream parlour and he delivered the consignments to the mentioned addresses from one KS Guest House in Anjuna. The payments of the drugs were made digitally by using Google Pay etc.," Wankhede said, adding that a Nigerian associate of Fernandez, Chidi Osita Okonkwo alias Benjamin, has also been arrested with 23 ecstasy pills from Anjuna.

A total of 240 gm of Nepali ‘charas' was also seized from a vehicle owned by Fernandez.

In another raid, the NCB nabbed another Nigerian national, Onayeka Egike, who was previously charged in a drug seizure case by the Goa Police. As many as 20 LSD blots were seized from his possession.